Stock Futures Are Up

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thomson Reuters NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures were higher on Wednesday after the Republican Party took control of the Senate in the midterm elections, as had been expected, while investors looked ahead to data expected to show improvement in the labor market.

* The beaten-down energy sector will be in focus as the Republican majority could lead to new legislative measures that directly affect the group, including approval of oil and gas pipelines and reforms for crude and natural gas export laws.

* The industry has lagged of late, suffering massive losses as crude oil prices recently fell to a three-year low. The S&P energy index is the only one of the primary S&P 500 sectors to be negative for the year.

* Futures rose on relief that the election results were clear, with the upcoming Senate majority party not in doubt. Investors had been concerned that some close races would be forced into run-offs, an outcome that could have led to weeks of delay in knowing who would control Congress's upper chamber.

* Investors looked ahead to economic data on the labor market and services sector. At 8:15 a.m. (1315 GMT) the ADP National Employment Report is expected to show that U.S. private employers added 220,000 jobs in October, up from 213,000 in September. At 10 a.m. the Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing index is seen dipping by 0.6 point to 58 in October.

* A strong ADP report could raise expectations for Friday's closely watched payroll report from the Labor Department, which is expected to show fewer jobs added in October than September.

* In company news, FireEye Inc fell 19 percent to $27.80 in premarket trading a day after the cybersecurity company gave a revenue outlook that was largely below expectations. TripAdvisor Inc dropped 12 percent to $72.95 before the bell a day after posting weaker-than-expected earnings.